Cauvery river row: SC asks Karnataka to release 6K cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water for three days to Tamil Nadu and directed the Centre to facilitate the process.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water for three days to Tamil Nadu and directed the Centre to facilitate the process.

Asking the Central government to facilitate a meeting between executive heads of the two states to resolve the impasse, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Mishra said: “We are under a federal structure, every state must comply with cooperative federalism.”

The court’s order came despite a Karnataka Assembly resolution passed on September 23 ensuring that water in the four dams of the Cauvery river basin is used only for drinking water requirements.

“In the interest of federal cooperation where all constitutional bodies have a role to play, Karnataka should follow our order despite the resolution passed by the state assembly,” it said, directing Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for the next three days. “Make sure your client obeys the order,” the apex court told the counsel for Karnataka.

The court also came down heavily on both states for creating the impasse. “This is not an ordinary litigation between a tenant and landlord. The dignity of the court has to be protected,” the judges observed.

The case will be heard next on Friday.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi assured the court that the Centre would attempt to resolve the issue by calling a meeting between the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and report back by Friday.

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have long been engaged in a tiff over sharing the Cauvery water.

Tamil Nadu told the SC bench that it is fed up with the unending litigation over sharing of the Cauvery water and the situation has arisen time and again because of Karnataka’s “obstructionist and obstinate attitude”.

However, Karnataka had told the SC that its reservoirs are dry, and its “all major cities, including Bengaluru, are falling short of drinking water” and it can only release water to Tamil Nadu by the end of this year.

On September 20, the SC had directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu till September 27, doubling the quantum fixed by the supervisory committee. It had also asked the Centre to constitute a Cauvery Management Board (CMB) within four weeks in order to find a solution to the dispute.

The CMB was conceived by the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in 2007 which ordered Karnataka to release 172tmc of water in a ‘normal’ year to Tamil Nadu. The Centre notified the award in 2013, but did not constitute CMB.